Moon Cereal

Not long ago, it was the full Fall Moon. I didn’t know that, but Grandpa did. When I went upstairs to a breakfast of cereal, Grandpa glanced up at me as he pulled his laced leather boots on. “You see the full moon?” he asked. My eyebrows shot up. “It’s real bright. It’s the Fall Moon,” he continued as he sat upright in his chair. His boots laced, and he pulled his feet back under the kitchen chair. “As it circles above us,” both his hands made a circular motion above our table, making the statement more personal. “Now is when it is the closest to us. And the brightest.”

I headed through the kitchen door to the front deck as Uncle Larry was filling his cup of coffee. Grandpa stood up to follow me. Standing on the deck, Grandpa and I peered through the pine branches to see the bright moon shining through the morning fog. “Isn’t that amazing?” Grandpa asked. I nodded. Grandpa continued, “Even through the overcast weather and the fog over the hills it’s still bright.”

By then, Uncle Larry had joined us. “That’s so cool,” he said.

“That’s what they said in King David’s time.” Grandpa grinned, “all those years ago? And it’s the same today. Imagine that.”

So we sat down to a breakfast of cereal with milk and raisins. “When I was a kid, we had cows but didn’t always have this good half-and-half milk.” He nodded towards the carton in front of him.

“Or the raisins?” I asked.

“Cereal and raisins? Yum, what a treat when I was a kid,” he told me.

 “Nowadays, we don’t even think about the vines that give us raisins for our breakfast or that far away cow that gave this milk,” I said, pouring half cream, half milk over my cereal,

Grandpa nodded, “we don’t think about milk cows very often, do we? I like good milk.” He paused to glance at me, “That’s why when I was able to have a farm of my own, I got a milk cow.” He grinned, “And my daughter…” I started to laugh because I could see the predawn full moon of my teenage years and that red milk cow that looked black in the dark.

“Yep, and we even had cold cereal back then. We called it dairy mash,” I said, and it was his turn to laugh.

Whole Grain Breakfast Cereal

1 cup whole grain (wheat berries, oat groats, pearl barley, buckwheat)         3 cups water

In a saucepan, simmer whole grain and water until the grain is your type of tender. The grain will get softer the longer it is cooked. When it is done, serve for breakfast with a dob of butter or a splash of milk. Put the extra in the fridge for tonight’s snack or tomorrow’s breakfast.

Once cooked, this whole grain cereal can be eaten like boxed cold cereal. If the water is drained off, the grain is poured into a bowl, milk is poured over it & it is served with a spoon. Or it can be re-heated by putting a few Tablespoons of grain in a mug. Add boiling or hot tap water to fill the mug and eat with a spoon. (I like to sip the warm water as I munch on the whole grain.) This is an easy ‘make-my-own-breakfast’ for kids of all ages when the grain is cooked the night before.

Note: Whole grains have serotonin precursors that help us feel good. In these crazy stressful days, as the school season gets into full swing, like everyone else, I can use a boost from those serotonin precursors.